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Monday, February 20, 2017

Round One, The Barfing on His Brogues Bracket

Welcome to the main event Betties! Today marks the first day of voting in our Epic Quest to find The One, True Betty. Competition will be heated (but civil) and voting will close next Monday when I post the winners of this round and choose another bracket to vote on.

Again, here are our loose guidelines: Vote with any criteria you want but only vote once--either on the FB page or here in the comments. When voting, you should lead the comment with your votes so that it should (pretty please) look like this:

"Caroline's WaterlooThe Fortunes of FranscescaThe Little DragonI chose these books because I like donkeys and because I find 'dragon' an adorable nickname..."

and not this:

Caroline's Waterloo seems better than An Independent Woman but I'm not super sure so I just went with it. TFoF is just a fun name but then, so was the book it was going up against ('Polly')...

As always, feel free to lobby for your favorites as that is a huge part of the fun and you're welcome to lobby loud and long before casting your own votes.

Here's a link to the Uncrushable Jersey Dress reviews if anyone needs a bit of a refresher on plots. And please, please don't feel you can't vote if you haven't read everything. You're welcome to vote or not vote on any of the match-ups.

Caroline's WaterlooThe Magic of Living Tabitha in MoonlightI chose these books because I like hiding behind the door and I also enjoy having unmentionable stains on my apron and ,I like men in oilskin shorts.

Carolines Waterloo vs Tabitha in Moonlight The magic of Living vs Wishes with CandlesTulips for Augusta vs Cassandra by ChanceAn ideal Wife vs A match for Sister MaggyAn ideal wife vs An Innocent BrideA small slice of Summer vs A Girl Named Rose Never the time and place vs Britannia all at seaNever the time and place vs Philominas miracleWinter Wedding vs An ordinary GirlMatilda's wedding vs when May followsA hasty marriage vs never too lateCourse of true love vs the edge of winterSilver thaw vs the girl with green eyes

Hi Betty Laurie,You need to click on the "Barfing on His Brogues Bracket" link in the post. Then you choose one book from each pair in the list. The first pair is Sister Peters vs Sun and Candlelight. You choose Sister Peters (no pressure, cough cough) or Sun and Candlelight and that is your first vote. The second pair is the Fateful Bargain and the Gemel Ring: you choose which you prefer of those two and that is your second vote, and so on down the list. The book from each pairing that gets the most votes goes through to the next round and the other book drops out of the running.

Don't worry, your favourites will come up in future rounds and you'll get to vote on them then!

I will preface all of my voting with this: I was cross referencing my memory of each book with the reviews herein and had to repeatedly remind myself that I was voting on the book, not the review...which turns out was ever-so-much more difficult as I am obsessed with these reviews!! I've been nearly the entire weekend reading, remembering and LAUGHING... OUT LOUD!!! These are priceless gems on their own... anyway, back to the voting... :D

When we have to choose between A Dream Came True ("I would have eaten you with a spoon") and The Quiet Professor (baby in a shopping bag) in a couple of rounds my heart will break... I hope there will be wildcards later.

Here is my vote for the 1st bracket (I am sure my fellow Europeans will recognize the formula used when casting the votes in the Eurovision Song Contest – a tacky, somewhat ridiculous but lovely tradition in European TV broadcasting):

I have voted for one in each of your proposed pairings even if some titles were, to me, quite forgettable and I had to reread your amazing and hilarious reviews in order to reach a decision. In other instances and because I did not have a clear preference, the decision was (nearly) an “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” affair. In other cases still (Blow Hot Blow Cold, The Gemel Ring, An Independent Woman), it was a matter of exclusion. The sullen, rude, insulting RDDs were so unlikeable that I had no doubts whatsoever in striking them out. Sometimes in a pair of indifferent titles, the least forgettable won.Some titles however are very dear to my heart and I cannot help but champion them, even if some are universal favourites.Pride of place goes to Sister Peters. Not only because it is the first and sets the tone (and defines the tropes) of Betty’s production, having therefore the honour of being a true original (yes, I am fully aware of the pleonasm) but also it reads as a better crafted work. Although a Neels lover I am not blind to the fact that some later titles are a bit “hurried” and mass produced. In Sister Peters in Amsterdam Betty Neels takes her time. Not only does the story develop along a believable period of time, making the love story more likely, but there is a fine balance between character, situation, details and environment description that I cannot overlook. It tells me that she took her time writing this one and the results are noticeable. The Awakened Heart I love because it has a lovely meet-cute and because of the laugh-out-loud descriptions of the landlady with the wig. Magic in Vienna is another favourite. I do not feel that there is anything outstanding in this book but, very much like my impression of the city of Vienna, it has a subtle, discreet charm. It does not jump out at one, it is balanced, pleasing and altogether nice, like our heroine. It grows on one the same as Cordelia grows on Charles, the bookworm. The Vicar’s Daughter is also a great favourite of mine. Margo’s entrance in the story is epic and she never has a bad moment. She is a great role model, even if already anachronistic by her time.Lastly, but never last, Caroline’s Waterloo. How can anyone not like Caroline? She is AMAZING! The lovesick unwilling doctor carrying his wife’s crumpled handkerchief in his pocket is absolutely delicious. I have however a bone of contention. How could Betty have our doctor say that horrible line to Caroline when naming the donkey? (I was tempted to insert multiple question marks here but am saving them for an unforgivable husband’s line later on in the voting.) He does apologize but not nearly as profusely as that insult deserved and Caroline’s reaction is also a little bit maddening/frustrating/doormat-like. I do feel that most of Betty Neels endings are a bit hurried – as your reviews repeatedly mention – and this one book is so awesome in all other aspects that it deserved a longer ending (and explanations, excuses and pledges).